I ordered the Ooigawa Supreme and Yutaki Midori Supreme along with a tokoname kyusu and shino chawan...they make and odd couple the small black kyusu and the big lightly coloured chawan but so far I think they will be happy together

The pot only fills the chawan about 1/3 but it feels comfy like the Chawan was not made to be filled more than that.

the Ooigawa I am liking too...it´s astringent and has green herbal flavours. Very strong and tasty and a nice contrast to both the other fuka´s I ordered...the YM Supreme I know is buttery and sweet with some asparagus flavour and the Fuga from Zencha is mild but very very green and long with an addictive umami to pull you through many infusions

now I need a whisk, scoop and some matcha to try the chawan in a more traditional way

The kyusu came with a little fine mesh basket infuser which is..weird...since it has an even finer mesh strainer built into the base of the spout but it seems like it would be good for sifting matcha so I am not complaining.

Just opened the last of the shincha 2010 from the O-C, Warashina Supreme. This is different from last year, but I just brewed a really strong session of it ... it was remarkably like gyokuro. You can tell if a tea is really good if it let's you brew 1.5 grams or more per 1 ounce water.

I will be curious if the nonshincha will be more like last years harvest.

So, this shincha I tried and rate on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest:

O-Cha wrote:... we are now completely yen based. Customers can pay in dollars but it gets converted to whatever the yen rate is on that day. That means that when the exchange rate is favorable (over 87 yen to the US dollar for Americans), they can get better deals.

FYI. I checked it out, looks simple enough. Heh, we can play speculators, watching the ebbs and flows of the yen to the dollar.

Both shinchas I had in OTTI round #1 (Sae Midory and YM Kaouru Supreme LE) were outstanding. A tiny advantage goes to YM Kaouru Supreme LE. Both had a lot of ummami, multiple delicious steepings, rounded and complex taste, with pronounced sweet tones in first steepings and more vegetal tones later.

Wow. My O-Cha shipment arrived today. I ordered on the 14th and I did not even choose EMS shipping! I was expecting it to arrive late this week or early next week.So that's less than five days and some money saved on shipping that can be spent on tea instead!

I got the "green tea gift set" because I wanted to try their Yutaka Midori (I've never had theirs) and the Miyabi anyway and can really use the storage tins that come with the set. Quite a nice deal.

I too have just received an order from O'Cha, with a matcha kit and 2 teas : Kiri no Mori and Kiku Mukashi. That's the first time I am going to make matcha on my own. Unfortunately, my only chawan - one I had brought back with me from Japan - is leaking heavily. It is currently undergoing its third cornstarch treatment... I am crossing finger here... But I am also in contact with a potter - which work appears on this forum - for a replacement.

Anyway, I have tried Kiri no Mori in a plain bowl and it is really, really good, soft and tasty. Thanks for the numerous advices on this topic.

One question : once open, do you keep your matcha in the fridge ? And before that ?

Stentor wrote:Wow. My O-Cha shipment arrived today. I ordered on the 14th and I did not even choose EMS shipping! I was expecting it to arrive late this week or early next week.So that's less than five days and some money saved on shipping that can be spent on tea instead!

I got the "green tea gift set" because I wanted to try their Yutaka Midori (I've never had theirs) and the Miyabi anyway and can really use the storage tins that come with the set. Quite a nice deal.

Now I'm excited to try these teas for the first time!

kOOl!

Back when I was a TeaSprout, Miyabi and YM were THE Japanese green teas, period. Now they are perenial classics. The YM was the first and only YM available to the West for a number of years, also the only Kagoshima offering.

I like to use a gram per ounce water for full throttle sencha experience. I brew YM for 45ish sec. and Miyabi for 60ish. YM around 160* and Miyabi cooler, around 155* ... in a preheated kyusu. BE SURE TO SMELL THE DRY LEAF of both WARMING IN THE KYUSU. Put the leaf in moments before pouring the water in, requires a bit of "timing."

David R. wrote:I too have just received an order from O'Cha, with a matcha kit and 2 teas : Kiri no Mori and Kiku Mukashi. That's the first time I am going to make matcha on my own. Unfortunately, my only chawan - one I had brought back with me from Japan - is leaking heavily. It is currently undergoing its third cornstarch treatment... I am crossing finger here... But I am also in contact with a potter - which work appears on this forum - for a replacement.

Anyway, I have tried Kiri no Mori in a plain bowl and it is really, really good, soft and tasty. Thanks for the numerous advices on this topic.

One question : once open, do you keep your matcha in the fridge ? And before that ?

Ah yes, the age old question. The TeaWorld is divided over the issue of whether or not to keep open matcha in cold storage or not.

Factors to consider, how often will you drink it? Does your fridge have a lot of "aromas?" Are you willing and able to remove the matcha from the fridge around an hour ahead of time each and every time?

Most vendors will recommend keeping it out of cold storage once open, but with care and under certain circumstances it can be done. I do it at times, but I never go so far as to recommend it since there is risk involved if not done properly.

Can't wait to try them. I'm forcing myself to wait until tomorrow though, because it is really cold outside (and the canisters felt REALLY cold when I got them) and I am afraid opening it now might have the same negative effect as opening tea that was just taken out of the freezer. I'll let it warm up to room temperature slowly today and open it tomorrow.

And...I do all these things:

Chip wrote: ... in a preheated kyusu. BE SURE TO SMELL THE DRY LEAF of both WARMING IN THE KYUSU. Put the leaf in moments before pouring the water in, requires a bit of "timing."

always.

Oh and interesting that you suggest brewing Miyabi at a lower temperature than YM. O-Cha suggest higher temperature for the Miyabi. They suggest 79 C which seems a bit high to me anyway, I would have gone lower regardless. I'll stick to your recommendations for my first try.

Stentor wrote:Oh and interesting that you suggest brewing Miyabi at a lower temperature than YM. O-Cha suggest higher temperature for the Miyabi. They suggest 79 C which seems a bit high to me anyway, I would have gone lower regardless. I'll stick to your recommendations for my first try.

Actually Kevin the owner recently posted about cooler temps for brewing sencha. Generally my base temp is 160* and use this for any fine sencha. But then I have experimented a bit with the lower temps ... very interesting results as it is better for some and not for others according to my personal tastes.

It is interesting what different temps will do to sencha, cooler and hotter might both be very good, but an earlier tasting of Miyabi at this cooler temp came out really outstanding while the hotter temps were good but not as good.

You should definitely experiment as so many factors come into play, not the least of which are your personal perceptions and tastes.

I've been drinking a ton of Miyabi lately. Of the 4 teas I've had from O-Cha, this one is probably my favorite so far. Do any of you know the breed they use for this tea? Their website does not disclose the breed for miyabi like it does for most others.

tortoise wrote:I've been drinking a ton of Miyabi lately. Of the 4 teas I've had from O-Cha, this one is probably my favorite so far. Do any of you know the breed they use for this tea? Their website does not disclose the breed for miyabi like it does for most others.

Seems I recall Kevin mentioning about a proprietary blend that not even he knew. I could be wrong on that though. Coming from Uji, I bet some Yabukita is in there, but seems like something a bit exotic is in there too.

I got to try it, and the 2010 is really good. Outstanding actually.

It looks like their prices have gone down, they are right where they were prior to their switch to the Yen (soon after, the strong yen caused prices to rise in dollars), might be a good time to buy!

I know he is getting ready to roll out a new Kagoshima organic ... wonder if it was released ...